ROY HODGSON was not sure of the opponents at first, Kettering were mentioned before he settled on Kidderminster, but he was more certain of Jamie Vardy’s qualities.

When Hodgson conducted a scouting mission on the striker three years ago on a chilly Friday night in the Midlands, it was with West Bromwich Albion rather than England in mind.

Yet Vardy’s subsequent rise from non-league football with Fleetwood Town to the pinnacle of the game illustrates football’s enduring ability to conjure Hollywood scripts.

“I was at West Brom and he was playing at Kidderminster, which wasn’t so far from us,” recalled the England coach yesterday. “He was getting a lot of good reviews and it was an ideal opportunity to watch him play.

“It was a cold night, a difficult surface, and to be honest he didn’t get a lot of chances to show what he could do, and neither did anyone else for that matter.

“It was a very competitive Conference match but you could see then he had some ability.

“That was the first time I saw him. The next thing I knew, he’d moved on and gone to Leicester and we have obviously followed him there.

“We think he has some interesting qualities and that this will be a chance to see them at close hand.”

Had he been tempted to bid? “I think it was a £1m (to Leicester). We didn’t throw millions around at West Brom,” he added with a smile.

GETTY

Jamie Vardy was selected in Roy Hodgson's England squad this week

Vardy’s elevation, more so than that of fellow uncapped striker Charlie Austin, into Hodgson’s squad for the friendly with the Republic of Ireland and the Euro 2016 qualifier with Slovenia feels at odds with the modern era. At 28, and with just four goals in the Premier League this season, he would not appear to represent the future for England.

England are without Daniel Sturridge through injury, harbour concerns over the fitness of Danny Welbeck and have seen Harry Kane, Danny Ings and Saido Berahino called up for the European Under-21s Championships, so if Vardy represents the present Hodgson will be delighted. For the time being, Hodgson prefers to view the talent pool as being deep rather than shallow.

“When you look at this squad, Daniel Sturridge is out who would normally be there,” said Hodgson, who also included goalkeeper Tom Heaton for the first time, Burnley’s first England call-up in 41 years since Martin Dobson.

“Danny Welbeck, we have fears about. We hope he’s going to recover and that he will be available for Arsenal, certainly for the FA Cup Final, but we can’t be certain of that. He hasn’t played for a while and hasn’t recovered from his knee injury yet.

“On top of that, there’s the Under-21s. There’s Harry Kane and Saido Berahino, who have been with us, and Danny Ings, who probably would have been with us at least on a couple of occasions had it not been for Under-21 commitments.

“So I don’t think our talent pool is that bad and if we can confirm what we have seen with Charlie and Jamie and they show they are capable of being international players, too, then our talent pool up front will be surprisingly big – certainly if you compare with what was available three years ago.”

Hodgson added in-form winger Ashley Young was denied a recall after Manchester United indicated he had fitness issues that require rest.